Safe construction



March 4 1924.

D. H. BELLAMQREv ET AL SAFE CONSTRUCTION Filed Il? 16 1922 lgri,

rrrrr fr INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID H.'BELLAMORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND CARL BARTELS, OF HAMILTON,OHIO, ASSIGNOR-S TO THE MOSLER SAFE COMPANY, OF HAMILTON, OHIO, ACORPORA- TION OF NEW YORK.

SAFE CONSTRUCTION.

Application led May 16, 1922. Serial No. 561,454.

To all whoml t 'mf/2] concevoir.'

Be it known that we, DAvm H. BnLLAMomi and CARL BAn'rnLs, both citizensof the United States, residing, respectively, in the borough ofManhattan, city, county, and

State of New York, and in the city of Hamilton, county of Butler', andState of Ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safe Constructions,of which 1o the following is a specification.

Our invention relat-es to the construction of safes, and moreparticularly relates to a joint or seam for use in the manufacture ofsafes built up of sheet metal plates and drawn or rolled steel sections.

Herctofore ins'afe construction thev joining of two adjacent parts hasbeen accomplished by providing a U-shaped portion on one of the partsforming a groove or rabbet 2o into which the edge of the other part maybe locked and welded. This U-shaped formation has been provided bybending the metal in sharp 'angles which tend to produce cracks. Thejoint thus formed is not resilient, and should one or both of the partsbecome distorted or expanded as aresult of being tampered with orsubjected to the action of heat, the metal is apt to crack at the anglesand to gap open.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide a safe having partsjoined together in a joint or seam which is so constructed as to avoidthe format-ion of sharp angles which would tend to produce crac-ks orgaps during the process of manufacture, or thereafter. Another object ofour invention is to provide a resilient 'oint or seam for firmly andpermanently joining together adjacent p'arts of a safe, but at the sametime permitting a certain amount of distortion of the parts andfunctioning to decrease the tendency of the joined parts to producecracks or gaps at the joint when the parts are tampered with or expandedunder the influence of heat. Other objects will be in part obvious andin part pointed out hereinafter.

In 'accordance with our invention we provide a locking rabbet or grooveby means of a member which is substantially U-shaped in cross sectionand in which the bottom portion of the U curves into its two sides,instead of fashioning this member, as formerly, in such a way that thebottom portion of the U makes sharp angles with its side portions.

f groove.

The edge of an adjoining safe part is adapted to be received and lockedwithin the This curved formation of the walls of the groove avoids theformation ot' sharp angles, thus lessening the tendency to producecracks, and moreover provides a resilient joint which permits of asubstantial. degree of expansion or movement of the two joined partswithout producing cracks or gaps at the' joint. Obviously, thisconstruction of joint may be embodied in any one of a number ofdifferent types of safe and it is to be understood that our invention isnot limited tothe specific embodiment illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings to which we now refer, and in which Fig. 1 represents asectional view of a portion of a safe embodying our invention; Fig. 2 isa fragmentary view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a safeembodying our invent-ion. Similar reference characters refer to similarparts throughout both views of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the safe comprises a construction which,except for the joints or seams, is believed to be well known. Theconstruction comprises an outer safe A and in inner safe B. The outersafe has outer walls 1 and inner walls 2 formed by sheet metal plates,the outer plates 1 being joined to sheet metal corner boxes 3. Thecorner box 8, where it is joined to the margin of plate 1, is providedwith an integral U-shaped portion forming a rabbet or groove t in whichthe margin of plate 1 is received and locked, the opening of the U-shaped portion being presented toward t-he plate 1. The U-shaped portionof the corner plate 3 comprises the inner flange 5, bottom portion 6 andthe outer flange 7 the flanges 5 and 7 respectively comprlsing the twosides of the U and the connecting portion 6 curving into the two sides.The outer surface of side plate 1 is overlapped by the flange 5, asshown. The flange 7 is preferably extended beyond the flange 5 and iswelded near its outer end to the inner surface of the plate 1, as at 8.From the foregoing itjwill be readily apparent that the formation ofsharp angles at the joint is avoided, and, moreover, since the portion6, which constitutes the bottom of the groove, is curved, a resilientjoint is formed and a substantial degree of expansion and distortion ispermitted to the plate 1 and to the corner .boX 3 Withoutproducingpcracks or gaps at the joint. Added resiliency lis obtained lbymeans'of the extension of the outer flange 7 ofthe grooveandbystaggering Lthe contact of the inner flange 5 With plate l in respect tothe contact of the eX- tended outer flange 7, as shown. v Y

As many changes could be made in the above construction and `manyapparently VWidely different embodiments of this invention could be madeWithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawingsVshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What We claim is: Y l. In safe construction, in combination, a safe parthaving an inner flange and an outer lflange extend-ing beyond said innerflange and having a resilient curved bottom connectingy said flanges,and a safe Wall having a straight flat portion seated between' saidflanges, Vsaid zWall porti-on contacting said linner flange, andcontacting said outer flange vat la pointbeyondirts'point of contactWith said inner flange; y I

2.111 safe construction, in combination, a flat Wall member and asafejpart having an inner flange and an outer flange in staggeredrelation and having a distended,

curved, resilient, bottom portion connecting said flanges, said flangesabutting a straight 'fiat portion of-saidfwall member'onf oppositesides. p

v3. In safe construction, a resilient -joint formed by a safepart'having an integral resilient portion substantially U-shaped inycross section, the bottom of said U-shaped portioncurving into thesides` thereof, and a safe vWall having a straight flat marginal portioninterlocking with said -U -shaped portion and secured thereto instaggered contact With the sides of said U-shaped portion.

14,. 'In-safe construction, a resilient joint comprising in itsconstruction, a corner box having a resi-lient, integral, marginalportion substantially U- shaped in cross-section,

Zthe bottom oit said U-shaped'portion curv ing into the sides thereofland one'of'the vsides Vextending"beyond .the other, said U- shapedportion being adapted to receive between its sides the edgeof a Wallplate withy the extended side of the U-shaped 4portion 'abuttingagainst'and Welded'to one surface of said plate and the "other sideo'f'thelU- shaped member abutting I against Vthe opposite surface'of'said plate. p

This specification 'signed and witnessed this 3rd 'day of `March, Y1922.

